penalty box

Thanks to the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year and a questionable call in the penalty box, the U.S. Women's National Team progressed to the CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying semifinals on Saturday.

Will Smith and his son Jaden are in London to promote their new film (and hold a mini Fresh Prince reunion), and their trip happens to coincide with the city hosting this year's Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. So before the match, the Smiths stopped by the UEFA Champions Festival on the International Quarter to attempt a few penalty kicks against former Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.

While Zinedine Zidane's 'roulette' move and Ronaldinho's 'flip-flap' are increasingly prominent skills to grace the game, the 'Redondo' made famous by Fernando Rodondo in Real Madrid's dismantling of Manchester United in 2000 is a pretty rare animal indeed. Yet, here is a Redondo spotted in the wilds of the South American Under-17 Championships [.

Riding an undefeated streak for the first time in four years, Chivas USA looked for more good times against a Colorado Rapids squad that was 1-3-2 heading into Saturday night's match.

Unfortunately for Chivas, the bad luck that had plauged the squad the previous three seasons came back to rear its ugly head on Saturday night, whether it was missing chances in the penalty box, or conceding a penalty, then missing one themselves later in the match.

Chivas USA had hoped the arrival of newly acquired holding midfielder Shalrie Joseph in time for
Sunday's final installment of the Superclasico with the Los Angeles Galaxy for this season would
help propel them back into the playoff race.

The Galaxy however had other ideas. Bolsters by two goals from Juninho, Robbie Keane's 10th of
the season and the first by Omar Gonzalez, the Galaxy sans David Beckham, had their way with their
in-stadium rivals once again, romping to a 4-0 win at the Home Depot Center.

Chivas USA had hoped the arrival of newly acquired holding midfielder Shalrie Joseph in time for
Sunday's final installment of the Superclasico with the Los Angeles Galaxy for this season would
help propel them back into the playoff race.

The Galaxy however had other ideas. Bolsters by two goals from Juninho, Robbie Keane's 10th of
the season and the first by Omar Gonzalez, the Galaxy sans David Beckham, had their way with their
in-stadium rivals once again, romping to a 4-0 win at the Home Depot Center.

David Junior Lopes has developed a knack lately for scoring against big time European clubs.

A little more than a week after scoring an equalizer against Tottenham Hotspur, the 6-4 Center
Back was at it again against Spanish power Real Madrid on Thursday. This time, Lopes cashed in a
goal off a David Beckham set piece in the 24rd minute, but even that was not enough to prevent
Madrid from once again outclassing the Galaxy for a third straight year courtesy of a 5-1 win over
LA at the Home Depot Center.

In a match that featured the likes of Robbie Keane, Gareth Bale, Rafael van der Vaart, and
Jermain Defoe, just to name a few, it was a player that not too many speak about that would find
his way onto the score sheet.

Bale did his part, opening up the scoring early in the first half of Tottenham Hotspur's
friendly match against the Los Angeles Galaxy, but the Galaxy found its response in an unlikely
source, as David Junior Lopes' equalizer paved the way for an eventual 1-1 draw with the Spurs at
the Home Depot Center on Tuesday night.

The Los Angeles Galaxy welcomed a big piece of last year's championship squad into its backline
for its Independence Day matchup against the Philadelphia Union.

The Galaxy had hoped the return of 6-5 Center Back and reigning Defensive Player of the Yea Omar
Gonzalez could provide a spark to a backline that not only has been makeshift but has surprisingly
leaked in goals at an alarming rate.

Today's practice at the team's Beaverton training facility saw the Timbers' starters return to
action for the first time since their loss to Colorado on Wednesday. The starters practiced
separately from the rest of the team, undergoing a lighter workout as they regen from last week's
game before splitting into two teams and playing a game of 6v6 with Gavin Wilkinson and Jose Adolfo
Valencia rounding out the sides.

The Los Angeles Galaxy's opening match of the 2012-2013 CONCACAF Champions League tournament had
just about everything one could ask for.

The Galaxy got goals from its star players, but had to weather some questionable officiating
late in the second half which featured a red card to Robbie Keane and a yellow card right in the
midst of a substitution.

One round of international completed and we're safe. Safe in the sense that there are no reports
of any of our players look to have suffered any injuries. In fact, it was a successful night of
football for some of our players. Getting on the scoresheet and so on.

So it's Stoke on a warm Sunday afternoon. Will it be any different? The scenario might not match
the cliche but the football most certainly will. This is a classic battle between two diametrically
opposite philosophies where both sides understand the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition.
It just boils down to the execution on a given day.

This is the last of the look at the squad and we're at the forward line now. On the official
website, there are 9 players listed there. One, we would not talk about because at this point, he's
probably looking at what's the best route to got to Old Trafford. There's another 2 more which also
doesn't warrant mention because just like the one before, they are on the verge (in the loosest
sense) of leaving the club.

As we gear up towards the new season, we all do our personal assessment of how the team is
shaping up for the upcoming season. Whether we have enough in our tanks to mount assaults on all
four fronts or whether we are a little light and should be looking to focussed our energy on on
front only.

It took another piece of magic from Hatem Ben Arfa yesterday after 58 minutes, when he rifled the
ball in from just outside the penalty box, and we'll have to stop calling him a one-footed player,Â
becauseÂ he hit the ball so beautifully with his right foot the one he usually just uses for
balance.

We thought Â it was a bit silly when TorresÂ propelledÂ himself forward when Anita barely toughed
his knee with a challengeÂ justÂ insideÂ theÂ penaltyÂ boxÂ after 21Â minutesÂ in yesterday's game
at Stamford Bridge do they practice this stuff in training but it gotÂ ChelseaÂ a soft penalty and
they went on from that to win the game 2-0, with a good goal from [.

While we have already gone over the Fulham game in quite some exhausting detail, there were some
finer points that I felt got missed in the general excitement of the 'Ohmigood RvP, ohmigoood
Kagawa, ohmigoood, Rooneeey, not funnyyy, blood-uh' moments that the match is primarily remembered
for. So here is your dose of the more nuanced, previously-unnoticed points from the game on
Saturday:

Sunday was a great win by the Fire and the squad garnered 3 important points in the standings.
As per usual, the Fire got the job done after going down a goal early. The Fire have come back so
many times this year, that I'm starting to get a little complacent with conceding early goals.
Hopefully the player don't start feeling the same.

Despite their 0-1 loss to a resilient Great Britain Olympic side yesterday, the
'selecao feminina' (Brasil women's team) have made it to the
quarter-finals of the Women's Football tournament. However, the task will not be any easier as they
will face current World Champions, Japan.

After last weeks news extravaganza, we actually got to (mostly) just enjoy the games this week and
get down to work on who will start getting a hold on their spots and most teams begin their push to
the playoffs. The top 6 teams in the table get into the playoffs, with only the bottom two feeling
all sad and lonely.

Chester, PA - The Chicago Fire made their only trip to PPL Park this Saturday to take on the
Philadelphia Union for the second time this season. The Union have been looking like an improved
side since firing Piotr Nowak in June, but with Jack McIntery out on suspension and Carlos Valdez
out from international duty, this was a game that the Fire should walk away from with three points
and nothing less.

RICHMOND, VA â€“ Matthew Delicate became Richmond's all-time leading scorer with a stoppage time
penalty kick as the Kickers secured a hard-fought 2-0 victory over the Dayton Dutch Lions.
Entering the match as a 65th minute substitute, Delicate had a number of close calls before scoring
his 64th goal in a Richmond uniform.

The Chicago Fire were on the road tonight in Santa Clara, California to take on the San Jose
Earthquakes at Buck Shaw Stadium in front of a crowd of 10,525. This was a very physical match that
featured some late on-field dramatics and a bit of a goalie duel between Fire keeper Sean Johnson
and Earthquakes keeper, John Busch.

For the past three days, I have been giddy like a school girl. I never once considered that
beating Sporting would be a possibility. It was pretty amazing, and it is just a little more proof
to show that this team has improved since last season. Last year, I think the Fire would have found
a way to conceed a goal late and drop the 3 points.

The headlines might say that Neymar's two goals helped Brazil come from behind to beat Croatia 2-1 in the opening match of the World Cup, but that is only part of the story.

An unimpressive Brazil side were struggling at 1-1 to open up the Croatian defense, when Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura awarded one of the softest you will ever seek in the 71st minute to help Brazil take the lead.

Kevin Phillips's penalty, 15 minutes into extra time, was enough to see Crystal Palace beat Watford 1-0 at Wembley today, and book their return to the Premier League.

With Watford goalkeeper Manuel Almunia in inspired form, it looked like this game was heading to penalties. But then Manchester United-bound Wilfried Zaha was brought down by Marco Cassetti in the box and Phillips smashed home the resulting penalty.

Hey, after last Friday, we could all use a pick me up. Unfortunately, I wasn't at the game, so
I'll have to offer up the official match report as evidence of the Dynamo 2-0 Reserve League
victory over Sporting Kansas City. Cam Weaver continued to annihilate the Reserve League with a
brace as the Dynamo moved in to a tie with the Rapids atop the Central/Mountain Division.

Villarreal had a disastrous 2011-12 ending in an agonizing relegation to the 2nd division in the
dying minutes of the season. In 2010-11 Villarreal reached the semifinals of the Europa League and
finished 4th in La Liga to qualify for the Champions League. I focus on the performance of
Villarreal in the attacking third of the pitch in 2011 and compare it with that of 2010.

Those pesky quarter-finals do their worst yet again. By the time Hope Powell's Team GB got any
cohesion into their game against Canada, they were already a (terrific) goal down and the
initiative had flown across the Atlantic, never to return.It was a sad, slightly flat way for Team
GB's otherwise impressive campaign to end, tempered by the fact that the Canadians ended it with an
excellent display.